Military School Alternative

The biggest hurdle we face at Fishburne is the general perception that military-based educational systems are for bad or troubled kids. We are absolutely not looking for teens with severe behavior issues. More often than not we will deny admission to kids who have continually acted-out in negative ways with their teachers, parents, or law enforcement.

Military schools take shape in one of two ways as noted by James P. Cole and Oliver Schoonmaker in their book, Military Instructors Manual, and on the blog they’ve authored to promote their book. They note, “There are two basic types of military schools: ones that take troubled teenagers, and ones that do not. If your child has more than just a behavior problem or if your child has some special needs you may want to consider some of the other types of boarding schools.”

FMS is of the latter classification. We are looking for highly intelligent, good kids who will thrive in the environment we’ve worked to create over the last 130 years. We aren’t a quick fix for severe behavioral issues. Our admissions department does its best to find kids who do well academically in high school, but also those students who can perform better if offered another environment.

More often than not the public schools themselves are to blame for not bringing out the best in America’s kids. Public schools suffer from funding issues, large class sizes, and not nearly enough personal attention given to students.

Fishburne has been one of the nation’s best schools within our operating structure since post-Civil War America. We look for the finest kids to keep that tradition alive.